Sunday, November 18, 2012

Tap of the stick to @statsoncrack ... This past weekend senior forward Corbin Knight had another stellar night going 20-12 and 38-23 on the weekend in the faceoff circle. Freshman Rocco Grimaldi was also pretty good in the faceoff dot as well going 24-17 on the weekend.

After last night’s game where both teams combined for 66 minutes in penalties, UMD moved from second to first over-all in penalty minutes. North Dakota jumped from 48th over-all to 31st.

Last night former UND goalie Brad Eidsness was the voice of reason when he posted this on the on-line game chat. I have met a lot of athletes over the years and Brad is one of the smartest that I have ever met. Eids also comes off as one of the most level head of people too. When most of us were ready for Sanders to come in and relieve Gothberg Brad posted this.

“I think a dose of patience is needed all with both the team and Gothberg. With a win tonight the team would have a better start (5-3-2) then the 2010-11 team. This is Gothberg's 3rd Career start. He is going to get more comfortable with time. He as the tools and will put it together. In order to do that however he must play meaningful minutes.”

This weekend UND Hockey travels to South Bend, Indiana to play the Fighting Irish. You can check this page this week. When UMD played Notre Dame in hockey back in October they had an on-line broadcast that was really high quality. You can find that web page at this link [Click to view]

It will be interesting to see if their on-line broadcast can take thousands of UND hockey fans logging on to see their favorite team play hockey. Only time will tell right?

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

The summer is really winding down… If my math is correct there are roughly 45 days until UND plays it’s first exhibition game on October 6th, 2012. There are also roughly 23 left for the NHL and the NHLPA to come to an agreement on the CBA without delaying the start of the NHL preseason. If there is no agreement between the NHL owners and the NHL, the league will go from being the National Hockey League to the No Hockey League.

From the Penn State front : Lawyers for Graham Spanier, former Penn State president ousted after Jerry Sandusky scandal, plan to rebut Freeh report

Former KFAN PA and Dubay host Jeff Dubay has resurfaced on the radio this past week. Jeff was on KTWINS for the last two days. [Pioneer Press]

The NHL is looking at obstruction – I think this is a bit over-due, especially, after watching all of the obstruction, hooking and holding that has been allowed during the past two NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. There seems to be two different standards – there seems to be stricter standard during the regular season and then a more relaxed standard for the playoffs.

THE CANADIAN PRESS --- There should be a healthy exchange of ideas with five general managers (Darcy Regier, Lou Lamoriello, Ray Shero, Steve Yzerman, Mike Gillis) and four head coaches (Joel Quenneville, Barry Trotz, Dave Tippett, Adam Oates) in a room with players, referees and members of the league's hockey operations department.

Campbell labelled it a "think-tank for hockey."

The idea came out of the GM meetings in March, when a number of managers expressed frustration with what they believed to be a slip in standard for the way penalties were called. Campbell invited them to submit video of specific incidents, which will be looked at this week.

"Personally, I don't think the hooking and holding has slipped," said Campbell. "I think we have to find out what we want with intereference on the forechecking and interference off the faceoff."

The league's former disciplinarian thinks the discussion might branch off to other rules like slashing.

"Anything that stops a player from scoring," he said.

This will be the first exercise of its kind since the NHL held a major crackdown on obstruction coming out of the 2004-05 lockout. However, Campbell doesn't expect it to have nearly the same impact on the sport in terms of the number of penalties called.

I know this about 12 days old, but according to Shooter from the Pioneer Press, former North Stars radio voice Doug McLeod is a strong candidate for the Gophers men's hockey play-by-play TV job on FSN. I personally, would like to see Kevin Gorg from FSN fill that role.

Former Wisconsin Badgers and current Minnesota Wild forward Dany Heatley has sued his former agent for $11 million dollars. [TSN.CA]

“We are both exceedingly pleased and tremendously proud to announce our latest WCHA Post-Graduate Scholarship winners in Brittany Toor, Montana Vichorek and Brad Eidsness,” said Commissioner Bruce M. McLeod and Associate Commissioner Sara R. Martin in a joint statement. “Representative of the best of collegiate athletics, these three outstanding student-athletes add another distinguished chapter to the league’s long-standing tradition of recognizing and honoring it’s players both on and off the ice.

“The WCHA has been blessed to have had Montana, Brittany and Brad competing in the league on the ice at the highest levels the past four seasons as well as making their mark in the classroom and setting the stage for future success. Today we salute their tremendous accomplishments and on behalf of the entire Association, we wish them all the best in their future endeavors.”

Eidsness, a senior goaltender at North Dakota who hails from Chestermere, Alberta, competed in 104 collegiate games and 5,871 minutes between the pipes while compiling an impressive 58-27-10 record, a 2.41 goals-against average, a .906 saves percentage and five shutouts. In his final campaign in 2011-12, he was 8-3-1 with a 2.17 GAA and .919 SV%. His 58 career victories rank third all-time at UND and he is fourth all-time in career games played by a goaltender, fifth in career goals-against average, sixth in career saves percentage and tied for fifth in shutouts. He was a member of North Dakota’s WCHA regular season championship teams in both 2008-09 and 2010-11 and of UND’s record three consecutive WCHA Final Five championship clubs in 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12, earning all-tournament team honors as a junior.

Over his four seasons, Eidsness has earned numerous honors, including the prestigious WCHA Outstanding Student-Athlete of the Year Award as a senior. (The WCHA Outstanding Student-Athlete of the Year Award is determined from nominations made by the member institutions and the nominee must be a senior student-athlete, must consistently display outstanding sportsmanship on and off the ice, must be a good student making satisfactory progress toward a degree; and must be a good hockey player who has performed consistently as a regular member of the team.) He is also a three-time WCHA Scholar-Athlete, a three-time member of the All-WCHA Academic Team, was a 2011-12 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award nominee, was a 2011 NCAA Elite 88 Award recipient, was UND’s Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2011-12, earned All-WCHA Second Team honors in 2009-10, both All-WCHA Third Team and All-WCHA Rookie Team honors in 2008-09, and was UND’s Rookie Athlete of the Year (male) in 2008-09.

Over the course of his four years at UND, he not only stayed on track with progress towards a degree but also completed both a Bachelor of Business Administration degree and a Master of Business Administration degree. Eidsness graduated Magna Cum Laude with a 3.779 cumulative GPA in undergraduate work and has a 3.625 cumulative GPA in graduate school. His leadership activities included the UND Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) from 2008-12 and the UND Master of Business Administration Student Association (MBASA).

“Brad is an outstanding young man who has become a leader, not only on his team but also across our campus,” said head coach Dave Hakstol. “His athletic performance and abilities are second to none and his dedication to his sport, his team, and his academics is that of a unique and first class character.

“He is a very talented young man, with his strongest qualities involving his work ethic, focus and drive to achieve success in all areas of his life. I have been fortunate enough to be a part of this young man’s life … to watch as he has evolved as a man by growing through both daunting adversity and great success. He is committed to doing his best and doing it the right way, with honor. He has been an incredible leader for our team and a teammate that other players think very highly of.”

In addition to his stellar work on the ice and in the classroom, Eidsness has also been active on campus as a team representative to SAAC and has been routinely involved in community service. His contributions include the Sioux Kids Club events, the Northland Rescue Mission – Pucks for Plates, annual food drives, the National Honor Society, fan fests, and speaking engagements at a number of different area events.

“Brad has applied for admission to law schools at both the University of Calgary and the University of Victoria and hopes to combine his love of hockey with his business acumen,” said UND Faculty Athletic Representative Sue Jeno, who nominated him for the WCHA Post-Graduate Scholarship. “The life lessons learned from participation in collegiate sports have provided him with the ability to work effectively with different types of people, to get along well with people from many varied backgrounds and beliefs, and to recognize when attention needs to be given to different individuals and to relationships. He has also learned that adversity can be as valuable as success in maintaining focus on a goal.”

Saturday, March 03, 2012

Grand Forks, ND – The start of the game was delayed by a broken glass
pane behind the Fighting Sioux net. One of the Fighting Sioux players
had broken the glass with a hard shot during the pregame warm-ups.

After the game, Fighting Sioux goalie Brad Eidsness said that ‘the
pucks being made of a harder composite rubber has been the cause of many
broken glass panes in arenas all over the WCHA.’

The Fighting Sioux have broken three panes themselves in the last
week, however, the delay to the start of the game didn’t seem to faze
senior Fighting Sioux goalie Brad Eidsness. He was stellar all night in
stopping all 29 shots that he faced, leading the Sioux to a 3-0 shutout
of the Minnesota State Mavericks on “Senior Night” in Grand Forks.

Many of Eidsness’ saves were of the grade “A” variety down low.
Eidsness stopped six shots from the slot in the third period alone to
ice the Mavericks.

Over the years, UND has had some amazing senior classes.

Last year’s senior class was highly heralded and included the likes
of all-Americans like Chay Genoway and Matt Frattin. While there might
not be any all-Americans, this year’s senior class is the epitome of the
lunch pail group. They go to work and do whatever it takes to win the
game.
Tonight, it was Eidsness that stood tall in his final regular season game.

While this season’s Fighting Sioux senior class might only have three
members, the trio of Brad Eidsness (Chestermere, Alberta), Ben Blood
(Plymouth, Minnesota) and Mario Lamoureux (Grand Forks, North Dakota)
have been part of some amazing teams that have won two MacNaughton Cup
championships (2010-11, 2008-09) and two Broadmoor Trophies (2010-11,
2009-10).

This year’s senior class, has also made the NCAA tourney every season
that they have played at UND and last season they were part of a team
that went to the Frozen Four.

Last night, junior goalie Aaron Dell was stellar in the win stopping
25 of 27 shots that he faced and you had to wonder, who coach Hakstol
would start in net on Saturday’s night. It was the senior Eidsness that
got the nod on Saturday.

It appears that the Fighting Sioux head coach Dave Hakstol made the
right game time decision; in picking senior goalie Brad Eidsness as his
starter.

After the game, Hakstol explained his decision on picking Eidsness as his starter.

“I wouldn’t say that we exactly split them, but each guy has gotten
quite a bit of time in the net and each played well with that rotation,”
Hakstol said. ”We have two goaltenders that are playing well. We have
to win the best two out of three series next weekend. We need to have
players in all positions playing well.”

With the shutout, Eidsness is now ranked fifth all time on UND’s
shutout list tying him with former fighting Sioux goalie Aaron
Schweitzer (1996-1998).

An emotional Brad Eidsness was pleased with the shutout after the game.

“It was pretty special,” said Eidsness.

“It’s a good way to cap off a pretty good weekend and a pretty good
senior weekend. I don’t know. It’s kind of something you look at and I
think I will cherish it for a very long time”

A choked up Eidsness continued, “senior night is kind of a
celebration of your four years here. I certainly had a lot of great
memories here.”

The night was also a milestone game for Fighting Sioux head coach
Dave Hakstol whose teams have won 20 or more games in each of his first
eight seasons.

Saturday, February 25, 2012

I haven't posted in a while and I know how you all miss me.... Ok, maybe not but here's a few things that have piqued my interest lately...

In the area of WTF.... Ferris State University.

True, this the third straight good year they've had, but last year they barely finished above .500 and suddenly they're at a .700 win percentage? #1 in the Nation? They could be paper tigers but I'm less inclined to think of them like a Union based on the following criteria:

1. They won their division and their division isn't a cupcake conference like AHA.
2. They play a full schedule rather than a wonky won likle the ECACHLMAO
3. It's late in the season. No one cares who is number one (except the stat hounds) early in the season. We have something like 3 regular season games left now. To be #1 at this time in a major conference means something.

I'm not saying that Ferris State is going to win the Frozen Four or even win 1 round of the NCAAs. I'm saying it's quite an accomplishment for a team who has never been #1 ever.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

In sadder news, Concordia University (Wisconsin) announced that Tony Hrkac will not return. In his defense.... well, there isn't much. In the 129 games CUW has played since they started the program in 2007, all of which under Head Coach Hrkac, they've amassed.... 10 wins. TOTAL.

They were 10-109-10. I don't care who you are. It's awfully tough to keep a job with a record like that. Here is the link. [USCHO.COM]

So, Minnesota trades one of its only major trade bait players for two former Wild players, a 2nd round pick, and a mediocre young forward in Palmieri.

It makes no sense to me to go out and get a grinder D, grinder Forward, and a young winger. If you wanted grinding forwards, just call down to Houston. You have a minor league system FULL of them. Why get Veillieux? He's worthless offensively. And last I checked, Minnesota needed scorers. Well, at least Veilleux is fresh. According to NJDevils.com, he's only played 1 game this year. Kindof dovetails into my claims that even in Stephane's prime (he's 30 now), he wouldn't crack most of the NHL rosters on a nightly basis. Oh well.

This was a BAD trade, regardless of 1 for 1 value. It reminds me so much of Risebrough it is scary. Zidlicky was the only player outside of the blockbuster players (Koivu, Harding, Backstrom, maybe Heatley) that the Wild could trade to get scoring forwards and they didn't get one. Palmieri is young, but he's a lot like a Latendresse or Brunette in terms of offense. Seeing how Brunette is a Blackhawk and Latendresse is injured, maybe that's why they got Palmieri? I just feel like the Wild could have gotten Palmieri for less than Zidlicky and then traded Zidlicky for a scorer.

Then again, I wouldn't be afraid at this point to go overkill and trade a player like Zidlicky for a scorer even if Zidlicky, value wise, was superior to that of the scorer in question. The Wild need to score goals and well, they're not going to get that with this trade. They're not even building towards it.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Last thing.

Though I expect Dell will start tonight, I take great pride in pointing out that Eidsness seems to be returning to form. He did fantastic last night, even with the last 3 minutes being scary. 2 of the 3 goals they scored were no doubter nothing you can do types (Shore's and Zucker's). The third was just sniping. I think Eids could have been in better position for that one but it was a good shot.

In any case, I am sure the Eidsness haters are having a field day with the last 3 minutes of the game, but I don't care. Eidsness has shown this season that he's come to play. And though I don't think we can truly say "Bench Dell for Eidsness" I can't truly say "Thanks Eids, now back to Dell" either.

I'd love to see the JPL/JPar arrangement come into place. Eidsness takes Fridays and Dell takes Saturdays. It's really late in the season to implement such a thing, but I think it should be done.

In any case, however longer the ride goes with this team, I'm all in. They have enough injuries to make it believable that winning is too hard to come by. There's no shame in having a down season due to injury. However, this team plays with a different attitude from other teams: They just go out and have fun with the system Hakstol has put in place. They're not the most talented UND team. Heck, I'd be hard to put them in the top 10 even. But they play with cohesion and support each other much better than in previous years. And from what I hear, the locker room is a different place than in previous years.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

According to UND hockey guru Brad Schlossman junior Goalie Brad Eidsness will be returning for his senior season at the University of North Dakota. This past season Eidsness was relegated to back up goalie after sophomore goalie Aaron Dell took over the starting duties. With the return of Brad Eidsness to the Fighting Sioux roster, it will mean that the Fighting Sioux will not have to rush the development of Sioux goalie recruit Zane Gothberg who was the back up goalie with the Fargo Force last season.

Goaltender Brad Eidsness, who will earn his undergraduate degree in three years, has decided to return to school for his senior year of eligibility while he begins his pursuit of a masters degree.

Coupled with the decision of Aaron Dell to return for his junior year, UND will have perhaps the best 1-2 tandem in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. Dell was an All-American last year after setting the school record in victories and Eidsness is a two-time all-conference goaltender.

While Eidsness played in only seven games as a junior (4.09 goals-against average, .812 save percentage), he proved during his first two seasons that he’s a reliable goaltender capable of carrying the Sioux to a championship.

During his freshman year, he led the Sioux to the MacNaughton Cup as WCHA regular-season champions by playing 41 games and posting a 2.56 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage. As a sophomore, he led UND to the Broadmoor Trophy as WCHA postseason champion by posting a 2.11 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage in 41 games.

Eidsness weighed whether to move on from UND because of his lack of playing time as a junior coupled with the completion of his degree.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

We've now played 3 games with Eidsness and Dell sharing the duties and already there are people calling for Dell to play over Eidsness.

Here's why that's ridiculously stupid:

1. Eidsness was on the All WCHA team last year and was among the best goaltenders in the country last year. You don't get that by sucking.

2. I'd like to see Dell do as good as Eidsness did on Friday with just as much (meant as sarcasm) Team D in front of him. Something tells me, UAA would still have tied the game or won.

3. Eidsness is the man according to Hakstol.

It's still unfortunate that people seem to think that the only good goaltender is the one that can steal the game for you. My perspective is this: If you need a goaltender to steal a game for you, even if it is once in a while, then you're only saying that because you don't want to come to the realization that the team in front of the goaltender is prone to sucking. Ok, ok, there is value to a game stealing goaltender (Devils and Brodeur, Canadiens and Halak, etc.) but there are just as many examples of great teams with goaltenders that did what was asked of them but wasn't flashy or stole games (like Leighton/Boucher for the Flyers or Marc-Andre Fleury - who is good, but not flashy).

The point is this: if your dominance depends solely on the play of one player, regardless of position, then your team will eventually fail. That is, unless your sport is focused upon individual performances in a team setting (such as the Olympics, the Ryder Cup in golf, etc.).

Hockey is a sport that requires solid play in all areas of gameplay or your team will struggle, from the obvious loss to squeaking by with the win.

How about a non-hockey point to beat the dead horse? Yesterday, Alabama lost to South Carolina in football. Though this delighted me to no end (as did LSU's win over Florida... suck it ESPN), it displays my point exactly. Alabama should NEVER have lost to USC. But their defense let them down and game over. What we're doing with the Eidsness issue, in this context is, had the middle linebacker played better, Alabama would have won. Ahm... Nope.

Saturday we saw great team defense. Fairbanks tested Dell..... twice according to Brad the entire game. One of those two times, Fairbanks scored. It took a 5 on 3 powerplay to generate that chance. See how important Team Defense is? It took Fairbanks 10 minutes to get their first shot on goal (made while on the powerplay) and another 7 minutes on top of that to get their first even strength shot on goal! I think Tate Maris could have looked better than Eidsness with this kind of Team D in front of him.

So what do we take from this weekend? Two things:

1. If we play good on Team D, it doesn't matter who is in net.

2. We may have what could be a solid tandem in net. Dell just needs to be tested a bit more.

Eidsness is still the #1 goaltender on the Sioux. Sioux fans will just have to come to grips with the fact that Eidsness isn't going to be a game stealer. And as far as I'm concerned, I'd rather he not be expected to be so.